


A Vested Interest

by RainofAugust



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Korriban, Siblings, Sith, Sith Academy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 07:38:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19146499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainofAugust/pseuds/RainofAugust
Summary: She's been training for Korriban since she was a small child. She knows the rules; she knows what she will need to do to survive. She walks the halls of the Sith Academy as though they were made for her. But when Jiani Jiaasjen's Force-weak brother is sent to Korriban too, she finds herself questioning everything, and wondering how many of those rules she will break to save him.Completely platonicsibling friendship fic, starring the once and future Darth Imperius, Jia.





	A Vested Interest

Korriban has been easy. She won’t say it; she won’t even think it. But she’s coasting. As one of the top-tier acolytes, she strides through the halls of the Sith Academy as though it was made for her, her long braid swinging behind her. 

She’s fought to get here, sure. She’s gone through countless trials, and has many more in front of her. But Darth Mortis is interested in taking her on as an apprentice, and that gives her clout. She has an overseer who isn’t an abject sadist. She’s learning and growing in strength every day. 

And Jiani Jiaasjen has been prepped for Korriban since she was born. Her parents are Sith; so are her siblings. They’ve all been taught what to expect. 

No mercy. You do things at Korriban that you don’t want to do, just to survive. 

No fear. Half of the trouble in getting through the tombs is overcoming one’s abject terror. Better to discard it straight away. 

No attachments. For a brief period of time, she will emulate a Jedi in this respect, but for a different reason: the sibling or lover of an acolyte is an easy target. Anyone who had a problem with Jia, including the overseers and trainers, could take it out on someone she cares about. The only way to avoid it is to feign indifference; to deny connections. 

And thus, when Jia’s brother Jax steps off the shuttle at the Korriban intake center, huddling close to the other new arrivals, Jia’s expression does not change. Neither does Jax’s. He knows the drill as well as she does; he has been prepared for Korriban as much as she has. He finds her in the crowd immediately and their eyes meet, but there is no outward acknowledgment on either side. 

”Look at that puny one. Two weeks,” Jia’s cohort, Risi, says. The older acolytes play a macabre game: they place bets on when the newcomers will die, and Risi has just started this week’s round of wagers.

”The boy? You’re generous. Two _days,”_ sneers Marwiel, another acolyte. “Jia? What says you?” 

Jia raises her eyebrows. Jax is easily a head shorter than every other acolyte, and his shoulders are hunched in fear. He does not protest when another boy pushes him out of the way, earning a sigh of derision from their overseer. 

”A week,” Jia says quietly. “Second task.” Acid burns through her stomach; she doesn’t think she’ll be wrong. 

* 

After dinner Jia seeks out a holo-kiosk. Personal comms and datapads are banned for the acolytes on Korriban; their communication with the outside world is strictly limited, lest anyone give them an advantage in their training. They are only permitted to use Academy-issued datapads and public holo-kiosks, and the latter are are cut open on one side and strictly monitored. As Jia walks to the supervisor and hands over one of her allotted holo-call tokens, she hears sobbing coming from several of the booths. It’s not uncommon. Everyone wants to go home. Alive. Everyone knows they might not. 

Jia settles in front of the holo and calls her parents’ frequency. They pick up almost immediately. 

”Jia,” her father says, relieved. “How are you? You look well today.” 

Jia nods solemnly. She’s taken to cleaning herself up before these calls. At first she came to the holo-kiosk however she was; with torn robe, blood splashed across the fabric, and scratches she had not gotten sutured yet. The panic in her parents’ eyes was too much for her to bear, so now, however bad a day she has had, she always looks well. She’s become a very good actor. Maybe her parents know it, but they play along. It’s less traumatic for all of them. 

“I am well. It was an easy day of training,” Jia says. That much, at least, is true. “Some new acolytes arrived today from the Kaas City Upper Academy.” 

”Think they’ll last long?” Jia’s father asks casually. Fear flickers through her mother’s eyes. 

”No,” Jia says honestly. 

“Who is their overseer?” 

Jia dips her head. She’s considered lying, to save her parents’ nerves, but she knows she cannot. “Harkun. Their saber trainer is the same as mine, though.” 

Jia’s mother covers her mouth, and then recovers. 

”Well, all you need to worry about is yourself,” Jia’s father says, his face unreadable. “The new acolytes will find their fates soon enough.”

Jia sighs. “Indeed. As always…I wish them the best.” 

The timer on the holo-kiosk beeps, giving Jia a 15-second warning. 

”I heard that. I know you need to go, sweetheart,” Jia’s father says, daring to use the term of endearment. “Be well. May the Force serve you.” 

”I love you both,” Jia whispers, as the holo-terminal goes dark. 

* 

Nightfall. There is no set rest period for the acolytes; they are expected to judge for themselves when they need to sleep and rise. They are left to their own devices in the evenings; if they have survived the day’s training, they often can be found celebrating. 

As Jia unlocks the door to her assigned barrack Risi sidles up behind her, wrapping hands around her waist. 

”Shall we?” Risi purrs. 

Jia smiles and leans back into her touch. This is how the celebrations often go. There are no strings; there will be no talk of relationships. Not on Korriban, where the future is nebulous. That is understood. It’s all about pursuing one’s passions in the present; about enjoying Risi’s hot kisses along the nape of her neck. Jia smiles as she takes Risi’s hand, leading her toward one of the private rooms. 

*  
They don’t fall asleep together; they never do. When Risi leaves to try to finish a library assignment, Jia finally crawls into her own bunk. The barrack is half-empty. Some of the other acolytes might be pursuing their own passions; some might have died. Jia never knows for sure. All she knows is that she needs some rest before morning, and her eyes close quickly. 

_Dreamless sleep._ It’s what most of them wish for. It’s what few of them receive. 

\--

They’re nine and ten, and they are running through the fields outside New Adasta, their shrieks of laughter carrying on the wind. Jax’s legs are far shorter than hers, and she outstrips him easily, moving swiftly through the grass. It isn’t until she’s rounded the hill that she realizes Jax is no longer pursuing her. 

When she retraces her steps she finds him crouched down in the middle of the field, his brow knitted with worry. 

”Jax? What’s wrong?” He shakes his head and gestures toward an injured bogwing sprawled on the grass, squeaking pitifully. 

”That bone looks broken. Look,” Jax whispers, gesturing toward the creature’s wing, which is bent at an unnatural angle. “Jia, can you -- can you heal it?” 

Jia sighs. “You know you’re supposed to practice healing yourself, Jax. Give it a go before I try.” They’ve had talks about this at home: they’re all supposed to encourage Jax to use his Force powers; to try to strengthen the limited sensitivity he has. 

Jax scowls at her. “Fine.” He centers himself, calling on the Force, and extends his hands toward the bogwing. A thin stream of purple Force power surrounds the animal, but the wing remains broken. 

”Don’t worry about it,” Jia reassures him. “You tried. Let me.”

Jia concentrates and directs a strong blast of Force healing at the bogwing. Its bleeding wounds knit together, but the wing itself does not. 

”Maybe we can’t help him,” Jia says gently. “We can call someone and I’m sure they’ll---” 

”They’ll kill him,” Jax says, reaching into his backpack. Jia and her other siblings carry practice lightsabers; Jax staunchly insists on hauling around a junior combat medic’s kit. “I’ve got kolto and a splint, but no anesthesia here, and I don't know if these sedatives will kill him…could you dazzle him?” 

”I don’t know if that works on bogwings--” Jia starts, but the pleading look in Jax’s eyes stops her short. “Yes, yes, I’ll dazzle the bogwing if I can.” 

Jia approaches the animal and kneels down beside it. As she’d expected, it hisses and snaps at her. “Relax, buddy. I’m not here to hurt you. You’re falling asleep. You feel no pain. Aaaand you don’t speak Basic so this means nothing to you.” 

The bogwing hisses again, and Jia sighs. She manages to avoid its sharp beak and put one hand on its head, and she channels the Force as strongly as she can. _Sleep._

The bogwing’s eyes droop and then close as its breathing calms. 

”Jax! Get over here. I don’t know how long I can sustain this.” Jia keeps her hand on the animal’s head, channeling the Force into potent slumber. 

”Coming,” Jax says, crouching next to the creature and gingerly touching its broken wing. “If I can set this…”

Jax gently maneuvers the broken pieces of the bird’s wing back together and splints it, wrapping it in a bandage and applying kolto and pain relief gels. The bogwing jumps in its sleep, but does not wake. 

”I’m done. Take some anti-bac, since we both touched it,” Jax says, handing an antibacterial injector to his sister. As they back away, the bogwing comes to. It shakes its wing uncertainly, but a moment later, it’s flying. 

”That thing can barely fly straight,” Jia says, watching the bogwing clumsily fly away. “I guess the best we can hope is that it will go back to its nest to recover.” 

”It’ll get there,” Jax says, smiling. “And if not, we did what we could. We didn’t just leave it.” 

\--

Jia’s eyes open in the darkness of the barrack, and she’s not surprised to find that her cheeks are wet with tears. 

* 

By the middle of the second morning on Korriban, Harkun’s latest group is already down two. 

Jax trudges down the hallway at the rear of the group, his face bloodied; his ear torn. But he’s still there, and as Jia clandestinely watches him from the balcony, relief floods through her. 

Jax stumbles and rights himself, and Jia looks away. 

* 

There’s one thing that people actually love about Korriban: they feed the acolytes well. The sweet smell of breakfast lures Jia down the corridor toward the cafeteria, where acolytes are piling food onto their plates. 

”Over here, Jia,” Risi says, waving her arms. “You might win your bet today.”

”How so?” Jia says, nonchalantly grabbing a tray. 

”Harkun’s trying to end them earlier than usual,” Risi muses. “Second task was assigned this morning, and it’s a doozy.” 

”Where did he send them now?” Jia asks, pouring some juice for herself.

”Tulak Hord’s tomb already. Half of those babies don’t even have warblades. Damn, he must hate them.” 

“I almost pity them,” Jia says quietly. 

”So do I,” Risi says, and looks away. “At least we have a light day. We’re all assigned to library cleaning.” 

”I know Raynor thinks that is a punishment, but I so don’t mind,” Jia laughs. 

”Neither do I,” Risi says, leading them to a table. “I’m perfectly fine staying out of the tombs for a while.” 

Jia nods as she chews a spoonful of cereal, lost in thought. In her mind, an injured bogwing flies away on the breeze. 

* 

If it is to work, he cannot know it is her. Cannot sense it. Cannot even have the idea in his mind, lest one of the overseers rip it out.

Jia dresses in black from head to toe, donning lighter clothing over her regular armor and stuffing her hair under a hood. She coats her warblade with ashes from the fireplace and wraps the handle to make it unrecognizable as hers. She has armor from home, and she rifles through it until she finds a fearsome face mask. It’s meant to emulate the Dread Masters, and it had been given to her as a joke, but she is grateful for it now. The mask comes with a vocoder, and she sets it to the lowest possible setting to disguise her voice. 

She knows the way to Tulak Hord’s tomb - she has certainly been there herself - and she strides purposefully along the path toward the north entrance, as though she has every right to be there. 

It doesn’t take her long to find Jax. 

He’s made it into the antechamber, but he’s crouched behind a statue, unmoving. The look on his face makes Jia’s heart sink. She’s seen the same expression on other acolytes: It means they truly feel they cannot complete their task, they’ve accepted their impending deaths, and will wait for it where they stand. 

Sure enough, when Jia grabs his arm and pulls him further back into the recess of the wall, he does not fight at first. And then something kicks in and he tries to struggle out of her grasp. 

”Let me go!” Jax cries. 

“Shhh,” Jia hisses. “Stop this nonsense. I’m a friend.” 

Jax whimpers in fear, and Jia shakes him impatiently. 

”I won’t say it again. I’m a friend. If you want to get out of here alive, you need to cooperate.” 

“I…why would you help me?” Jax asks. 

”It’s not your concern at the moment. Let’s just say you have a friend in high places,” Jia says. “They have a vested interest in seeing you survive.” 

”This doesn’t seem fair.” 

Jia shakes her head. _Damn it, Jax. Not the time to be ethical._

”Would you prefer to die here?” 

”No!” Jax says quickly. “What…what is it you want me to do?”

“Tell me what your task is.” 

”To find a shield in chamber Cresh-3 of this tomb,” Jax mutters, still trembling. 

”Do you know where chamber Cresh-3 is?” 

Jax shakes his head and looks down in shame. “We don’t have maps. And…” 

”Shut up. Follow me. You’re not even in the right building, you fool. This is Aurek.” 

”But…” 

Jia sighs and grabs him by the collar of his uniform. “Do. You. Want. To. Live?” 

”Yes!” 

” _Then shut the fuck up_ and follow me. Silently.” 

* 

He cannot fight. He cannot dodge. Everything he learned in Upper Academy seems to have been forgotten completely. The walk to building Cresh is short, but since Jia needs to defend both of them, it takes a full hour. 

”I could try to help,” Jax stammers, showing her his warblade. 

Jia snatches it out of his hand and tosses it away. “First, this weapon is garbage. It’s so bent and worn that it’s about to break in two. Second, I think you would do more harm than good if you helped, since your combat skills are useless.” 

”They’re not!” Jax snips. “I just…” 

”You’re scared. You don’t want to be here. That’s how it is on Korriban,” Jia finishes his thought. 

”I’m here now, though,” Jax says. 

”Correct. And we’ll need to do what we can to help you survive it. First order of business: new gear.” 

”Where?” 

”Look around you. You are to be Sith. What resources do you have at your disposal right now? Use them.” 

”There’s nothing here but monsters…and corpses…and…” 

”Are the corpses dressed? Do they have weapons?”

”I can’t loot those!” 

”Do these acolytes need them anymore? Will you be harming them?”

”No, but…” 

”Sometimes what we need to do is not what we want to do,” Jia tells him. “Say a _Qorit_ for each acolyte you take something from. Honor them. Tell them you will survive for them, too. I trust you remember how to perform that prayer?” 

Jax swallows hard. “Yes. The prayers…the history…that, I’m good at.” 

It doesn’t take long before he spots a corpse with a far better warblade. It’s not much longer before he finds himself new boots, protective gloves, a chest plate, and a helmet. Jia covers him as he mutters a _Qorit_ for each fallen acolyte. 

”Better,” Jia says. “You might stand a chance now. Let’s get you to building Cresh.” 

The building looms up ahead, and Jia leads the way down the stairs. She’s been here before. She’s performed the exact same task, too. By the time one gets to the upper echelon of the Academy, one has learned that the ‘artifacts’ the novice acolytes remove are never important; never authentic; are simply planted there in secret to be found. The Dark Council is actually quite particular about having the tombs looted or damaged, so real artifacts are either left to the advanced acolytes, the Reclamation Service or the Sith representing the Dark Council's Spheres of Mysteries or Ancient Knowledge. 

They reach the room and find the shield, but as they turn to leave, a swarm of K’lorslugs surges up from behind a wall. Jax screams. 

”Oh, stop,” Jia snaps. “Listen to me. Put the blade in front of you, crosswise. Stay behind me, but try to watch what I do.” 

Jax holds his new warblade out in front of him, his hand trembling. As one slug approaches him, he swipes at it, cutting its head off. 

”You see? You’re not as useless as you think,” Jia smiles. 

”Thank you,” Jax says. “What now?” 

Jia rolls her eyes behind her mask. “Hide that shield under your armor. Tell nobody you have it until you turn it in to your overseer. I’ll take you back to where I found you. Can you make it from there?” 

Jax nods. 

”Good.” 

They walk back to the entrance of the tomb together, their warblades drawn all the while. They pass several newly-dead acolytes, and Jax shivers. 

As they reach the pillar where Jia found him, Jax pauses. ”Listen. I don’t know who you are, or why you helped me. But…thank you. I wouldn’t have made it through there without you.” 

Jia nods silently and puts her hand on his forehead, pushing at his consciousness with the Force. “You will forget that you ever saw me.” 

”I will forget that I ever saw you,” Jax repeats, his eyes glazed. 

”You blacked out in the tomb from fright. You don’t know how you completed your mission, but you did.” 

”I blacked out in the tomb from fright. I don’t know how I completed my mission, but I did.” 

”Sleep.” 

Jax collapses into a heap on the floor. Jia backs away and hides behind another pillar until he awakens and walks slowly out of the tomb.

_He survived this day. But we have a long way to go._

**Author's Note:**

> If you are reading this work anywhere other than Ao3, please know that I do not consent to having my works reposted or packaged into apps. Please also know that this work is free to read on Ao3 and I do not approve of or consent to having my works posted behind paywalls or subscriptions.


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